238: Desperate Escape and the Key's Power

The Corrupted Wolf King had been slain, and one Scavenger was disabled, but the remaining two Scavengers were still like grim reapers, approaching the defensive position with cold killing intent.

Their silver-white armor reflected a chilling luster against the dim backdrop of the Misty Ghost Domain, and their energy weapons were fully charged, having locked onto their targets.

Inside the defensive position, the atmosphere tightened to the breaking point in an instant.

Everyone knew clearly that facing two fully functional Scavengers, their small group and makeshift fortifications were utterly vulnerable!

"Damn it, let's fight them to the death!" Zhao Iron Pillar roared with red eyes, about to charge forward, but was held back by Wen Youyi.

"Don't be reckless! Do you want to die?" Wen Youyi hissed, his brain racing.

Fighting head-on was the worst strategy; they had to find a way to retreat!

But how to retreat? Where to retreat?

His gaze swept over the surroundings: the twisted jungle, the black rocky ground, and the bottomless rift behind them... The rift? That's it! The stone bridge!

Although the other end of the stone bridge was the collapsing ruin, the bridge itself seemed exceptionally sturdy, and... because of the battle just now, the Corrupted creatures on the other side should have been mostly cleared out!

If they could quickly rush across the stone bridge and use the complex terrain of the ruins and the ongoing collapse, they might be able to shake off the Scavengers!

"Everyone, listen up!" Wen Youyi made a decisive choice.

"Abandon the position! Charge toward the stone bridge with everything you have! After crossing, disperse and hide, using the collapsing ruins as cover!"

"Understood!"

There was no time to hesitate. The moment before the Scavengers' energy beams were about to hit them, the entire team, like a disturbed Swarm, suddenly surged out of the defensive position and sprinted desperately toward the stone bridge!

"Whoosh! Boom!"

Two searing beams of light grazed the end of the group, striking the former position and instantly vaporizing the giant rocks and fortifications into a massive crater!

The Scavengers clearly had not expected these "bugs" to abandon their defenses and flee so decisively, but they reacted extremely quickly.

They immediately adjusted their direction, blue ion streams erupting from beneath them, and chased after them while hovering low!

Their speed was far faster than Wen Youyi and the others running!

Seeing the distance closing rapidly, the few team members running at the back could even feel the scorching energy radiation on their backs!

"This won't work! We can't outrun them!" Wang Wu shouted anxiously.

Wen Youyi gritted his teeth. While sprinting, he once again gripped the crystal key in his hand.

Fighting head-on wouldn't work, and they couldn't outrun them; did he really have to use the energy potentially stored within the key to attack?

But that was their hope for finding the "Guixu" and for future development, and every bit of energy used was one less...

Just as he hesitated, the key seemed to sense his intense feeling of crisis and his will to protect, and it lit up on its own again!

But this time, instead of emitting intimidating starlight, it projected a soft, rippling silver screen of light that instantly enveloped the entire running team!

This light screen was not for defense; it was more like a form of... stealth and acceleration effect!

The moment he was enveloped by the light screen, Wen Youyi felt his body become light, and his running speed suddenly increased by more than thirty percent!

Moreover, he noticed that the Scavengers' locking scanning beams behind them showed obvious turbulence and deviation, as if they had suddenly lost their clear targets!

"The key is helping us! It can interfere with the Scavengers' locking System and provide acceleration!" Wen Youyi, both surprised and delighted, shouted a reminder.

The others also felt the change; their speed surged, and the feeling of being pointed at by death rays weakened by more than half!

Although the Scavengers were still giving chase closely behind, with energy beams exploding around them from time to time, their accuracy was greatly reduced, and they were mostly firing covering shots, significantly lowering the threat.

"Good treasure! Truly a good treasure!" Zhao Iron Pillar, while running for his life, looked back at the relentlessly pursuing yet inaccurate Scavengers and laughed, "Haha, can't hit us! Go die of anger, you iron lumps!"

With the assistance of the key, the team finally rushed onto the stone bridge in a narrow escape!

The bridge surface was still littered with the debris of the previous battle, with the remains of the Corrupted Wolf King and the corpse of the disabled Scavenger scattered everywhere.

"Don't stop! Keep going!" Wen Youyi roared, taking the lead to rush across the stone bridge and stepping onto the land of the ruins on the other side, which was collapsing violently.

The two Scavengers behind them also chased onto the stone bridge without hesitation.

However, the moment they stepped onto the ruins on the other side—

"Hum—!"

The entire ruin seemed to have triggered its final self-destruct mechanism; the ground cracked open with huge fissures, and more buildings collapsed with a roar!

A chaotic and powerful surge of energy turbulence erupted from beneath the ground, sweeping in all directions!

This energy turbulence seemed to cause serious interference with the Scavengers' System!

The energy shields on their bodies flickered violently, their scanning beams completely failed, and even their hovering became unstable; their movements became stiff and sluggish!

"Opportunity!" A flash of brilliance appeared in Wen Youyi's eyes.

"Disperse! Use the ruins to hide! Find a chance to retreat to the landing point!"

The team immediately broke up into smaller units, like water droplets merging into the sea, and with the help of the constantly collapsing giant rocks and crisscrossing fissures, they quickly disappeared into the violent energy turbulence and the dust-filled air.

The two Scavengers struggled to stabilize their forms in the turbulence, their electronic eyes flashing crazily as they attempted to re-acquire their targets, but in this environment, their advantages were reduced to a minimum.

[Target lost... Environmental interference Rank too high... Suggest temporary withdrawal... Re-locating...]

After the cold electronic voice communication, the two Scavengers seemed to judge that continuing the pursuit here was inefficient and high-risk.

They finally gave up the search, pushed against the energy turbulence, slowly retreated back to the stone bridge, and then, without looking back, turned into two streaks of silver light, disappearing into the mist on the periphery.

They were gone.

A long time later, under the remains of a relatively stable, half-collapsed palace, Wen Youyi gradually reassembled the scattered team members through the faint resonance of the key.

Counting the heads, except for a few people who were grazed by flying rocks, there were no casualties.

Looking at the ruins in the distance that had returned to a deathly silence, with only the roaring of the collapse remaining, and at this key in his hand that had returned to calmness once again but had already displayed magical abilities, everyone felt as if a lifetime had passed.

This trip to the "Misty Ghost Domain," although failing to enter the true "Guixu," had led to the discovery of the ruins of the ancient resisters, the acquisition of the crucial crystal key, and, more importantly, the personal validation of the key's powerful abilities.

The gains were enormous, but the price was equally heavy.

The ruins had completely sunk, and they had nearly been wiped out.

"Let's go, it's time to go home." Wen Youyi put away the key, his gaze firm.

Carrying heavy gains and lessons, the "Spark" exploration team embarked on their journey home.

(End of Chapter)